Say something
by DaChocolat
Summary: On a mission Freed jumped between an attacker and Laxus, carrying off major injuries. / Fraxus Oneshot


"You should have brought me some of my papers at least."

"Oh, you wish. No you're gonna sleep, Freed.", Ever retorted and regarded the sleepy smile on the rune mage's face, telling her that he was half-joking. Half-joking, yes. She knew that he would really do paperwork right here in his hospital bed if he could.

"'n here you can't sneak out of bed.", Bixlow grinned, his babes floating in the air around him, repeating his words cheerfully. "The nurses won't be happy with you, if you do, baby." That educed a faint snort from the green-haired man but no counterwords actually.

"I will rest. For sure." For a moment his eyelids fluttered shut, hinting how exhausted he really was after what happened on their last mission. His condition had been alarming as they arrived at the hospital in panic but the doctors told them that Freed was going to be okay after the operation. He needed a lot of bedrest. Medicine and supervision for some time and even though that was not to Freed's liking at all, he felt that it was seriously necessary this time. He didn't argue.

"Yea, you will." Laxus was standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed and leaned against the wall while watching Bixlow and Ever standing next to the hospital bed and talking to him. He'd been quiet for almost the entire time and earned a few worried glances from his mate for that. Now as he spoke up, Freed's head turned once again, turquoise eyes resting on him tiredly. This expression...it was painful. Laxus had seen the other utterly tired and sleep-deprived before but this...this was different. The blond slowly stepped closer to the bed now, making Ever and Bix step aside a little. After a moment, the tall seith mage nudged the woman gently and cleared his throat, making her whisper at last.

"...we leave you two alone now. Laxus, make sure that he gets rest!", Ever added quickly and crossed her arms briefly as she threw a stern glance at the rune mage.

"Ever, I told you I will rest."

"You better.", she warned but wore a small smile one heartbeat later, a smile which showed the love he felt for the greenet but also the worry she bore right now. The seith mage couldn't leave without a comment either, of course. "No foul tricks baby, you don't want trouble with the nurses." The snort this comment elicits from the rune mage made the grin on Bixlow's face widen before the two Raijinshuu mages turned to leave. They wouldn't go home, though. They would stay at the hospital overnight despite the doctors that Freed would be okay. His friends saw his condition, and they wouldn't leave him alone now no matter what the doctors or the rune mage told them. At the door, Ever threw one last quick glance at the two other men before she followed Bixlow out of the room, silently closing the door behind her. Laxus watched them out of the corner of his eyes, and once he was that both of them were outside, he took a heavy breath and crossed his arms again as he stood next to the hospital bed too now, arms crossed before his chest still as he looked down at the rune mage.

"...moron." It was a quiet grumble, supposed to sound angry but the mien Laxus wore couldn't conceal the absolute concern and fear he experienced. He had almost lost the man most important to him. In a nearly desperate gesture, the blond ran his fingers through his hair swiftly before he moved to grab a chair and shuffle it closer so he could sit down in front of the bed, watching Freed's sleepy expression.

"Why?" Laxus could hear Freed was striving for a steady voice, but apparently that was a hard task right now.

"Won't be discussing this with ya now. Ya just are.", the S-Class mage replied simply, giving a small shrug of his shoulder. He blinked, as Freed chuckled quietly. "What?"

"You know I will discuss if I want to...And I'm not a moron. I did the right thing."

"You almost died!"

Freed's expression altered abruptly as Laxus raised his voice, almost shouted his last words at him. Turquoise eyes were widened despite his fatigue now, silence instantly falling between them. Anger was flickering in Laxus' eyes, so clear and intense that it almost hid the feeling Laxus meant to hid the entire time but failed. He proceeded to fail. Looking away, a frown appeared on Freed's face and the blond immediately regretted that he got louder. Such abrupt outbursts of emotion were rare for him...but this time he couldn't help it. The mere thought of him losing Freed...

"...sorry..."

"...it's okay, Laxus..."

Silence broke in again after that. Freed had his gaze still averted and the frown didn't leave yet. Laxus however, was glancing at him, watching him and could see that the other was considering something, pondering on something. Perhaps he should just have been quiet and be happy that Freed was still here with him. Expression going emotionless, the blond scratched his neck, then leaned back in his chair as suddenly he heard Freed's calm, tired voice again.

"I did the right thing and nothing can convince me otherwise. Not even you." He paused, and Laxus didn't interrupt him this time even if it was tempting again. The lightning mage couldn't help but think that the other shouldn't have done what he did.

"If protecting you means that I have to die, then I will." He looked dead serious, gaze now shifting back to the blond. "I love you Laxus. I would do everything for you and you know that. I..." Another pause and this time it was Laxus turn to frown. The temptation to interrupt him got even bigger with every word the other said. Dying for him? He didn't want that!...he wouldn't be happy.

"You would die to protect us, me, too. You think the same way as I do, Laxus, and don't try to pretend that I am not correct. I manage to protect you this time...I never did before...Before it was always you protecting me, even though I swore that I would protect you..." Next to the dizziness in his voice, there was now something else. Bitterness. The last words of his were almost not audible anymore, going down in a whisper. "I always failed to protect you."

It was always a silent burden, something that was always with him . At times existing more obvious than at other times, but it was always there. Freed felt small when he thought about it. Felt helpless and furious about himself. He swore to look after Laxus. He swore to protect him...and yet it was always Laxus who protected him. It was Laxus who blamed himself for not being able to protect them, when he did so often.

Laxus glanced at him in disbelief. It took some moment before everything snapped in completely and just as the blond was about to counter, he saw the shimmer in Freed's greenish blue eyes. His mouth went shut immediately as he noticed the other tearing up silently. The sudden feeling of helplessness hit him. He hated it. On the other hand he'd almost gotten used to being more emotional whenever he was around Freed. He had changed him...to the good. Instead of saying something in argue, the lightning mage leaned closer and placed a palm on Freed's cheek, quite awkwardly clearing his throat.

"Don't um..don't cry, Freed, c'mon..."

Freed shook his head in defence. "I'm not-"

That made Laxus sigh and almost roll his eyes, but given Freed's condition he just started to caress his cheek with his thumb, brushing a teardrop away which managed to escape the rune mage.

"C'mon Freed, don't say such stuff." Laxus' voice sounded unusually soothing as he spoke. Hopefully it would have exactly this effect on the green-haired man.

"But it's true...I always failed when wanting to protect you...This time I didn't.", he replied, his vox almost breaking. The familiar, faint trace of stubbornness Laxus noticed lingering made him give a sigh at last and he moved his hand to Freed's, taking It gently into his own.

"Yea, and I almost lost you...", Laxus spoke firmly, once a couple of heartbeats had passed.

"But you are safe.", Freed mumbled back, his voice getting meeker and meeker with every word he said. Stray tears still ran over Freed's skin, but Laxus was glad to see that he was getting quieter again. The rune mage wouldn't let go and it was astounding in some way, but right now Laxus would just accept it, remembering what Ever said. Freed needed rest, was not allowed to overexert himself.

"Geez, you look horrible.", he stated quietly and roamed his hand away from Freed's briefly, only to brush the other's bangs out of his face cautiously. It caused the jutsushiki mage to blink and look at him in surprise. Then there was another one of this tired chuckle.

"Thank you, that's exactly what I need to hear now." He strove to sound offended but of course he failed. Laxus smirked shortly, while grabbing Freed's hand again before he looked seriously at him again.

"Ya gotta sleep now, though."

"...and here I thought you wouldn't betray me."

Seeing the spark of playfulness on Freed's face, mixed with the occasional twitches of pain and fatigue caused Laxus this weird feeling again. It hurt. So much, and it blindsided him every time anew.

"Don't be even more of a moron and sleep.", Laxus stated sternly though squeezed the other's hand gently while doing so.

"...will you stay with me?"

"Tchz, of course.", he was quick to reassure and showed his man a toothy grin, earning a soft smile from the greenet.

"I love you, Laxus."

Laxus just smiled, stroking the back of Freed's hand with his thumb in an affectionate gesture. After that, both of them remained silent and it actually wasn't long until Laxus was able to listen to Freed's calm breathing, his hand still held by his own. Something told him that the rune mage wouldn't have fallen asleep this fast if he wasn't here and somehow this made him smile one of his unusually soft smiles himself after some more moments. Seeing Freed exhausted and wounded like he was still chased an unpleasant shiver along his spine but he attempted his best to ignore it.

Once he'd made sure that Freed was sleeping fast, he found himself resting his head on his chest later on in the middle of the night. Cautiously for he didn't want to risk waking him before at some point Laxus fell asleep as well while listening to Freed's heartbeat.

The next morning broke in faster than expected. Outside of the room, Ever and Bix were sleeping on two chairs.

Laxus had been holding Freed's hand all through the night, his head still resting on Freed's chest. As the lightning dragon slayer slowly opened his eyes, he noticed his back hurting a little from the position he had been sleeping in but it wasn't something what bothered him any longer. Grumbling, he just laid there, not moving. Noticing how early it must be, Laxus was about to close his eyes again, squeezing and caressing Freed's hand carefully every now and then before he noticed something that made it impossible for him to continue sleeping.

Just as if struck by lightning, Laxus' head shot up, orange eyes staring at the greenet lying in the bed of the hospital, covered by the white blanket, green bangs not curtaining one half of his face like it usually did.

"Freed.", he whispered, traces of alarm revealing that something was not as it was supposed to be. There it was again – this weird feeling. A mixture of pain, concern, fear.

"Oi, Freed..", Laxus repeated and gently patted his one of the rune mage's cheeks in an attempt to wake him. He wished to see him opening his eyes. Right now.

The younger man's expression seemed peaceful. He didn't react to Laxus' attempts to wake him up and while the cause could just be a simple one...it wasn't.

"Freed, c'mon now!" The despair in the blond's voice grew in record time, orange hues flickering alarmed, fearful as he kept up his attempt to educe a reaction, at least a little one.

It couldn't be. It couldn't. Impossible. The doctors said –

"Say something!" He got rougher in his motions, letting go of Freed's hand as he cupped his face and patted both of his cheeks, focusing him in panic, expression almost begging as he realized what was going on – and that his observation had been correct.

That the heartbeat he'd listened to while falling asleep was not there anymore.

Laxus didn't know what to do, glanced around hectically and almost jumped from his chair now. He barely noticed himself calling out for Evergreen and Bixlow before he turned back to the rune mage.

"Y'are not allowed to leave me, moron. Ya won't! You won't..What would I do without you?" He needed him. He loved him like he'd never loved anyone before. He couldn't...Freed couldn't...

"Help! I need damn help!", his loud vox shouted out and he spun around hectically, looking at the door and repeating his words once more in a quieter, even more desperate manner as he bend down to Freed. "I need damn help.."

How peaceful Freed looked...it hurt even more. His body motionless, eyes closed. Laxus cupped his face once again, firmer this time and he noticed his legs wanting to give in. It was too much to handle...it was unreal.

"Say something, Freed. Say something...Say something!", he begged now, getting louder again, not even taking note of his own eyes becoming teary. "Please.."

But there was no reply. Laxus looked into closed eyes.

"You're the one that I love! I love you, Freed! You damn moron!" He broke down on Freed yelling, fists gripping the white fabric of the blanket and his own heartbeat racing. "You damn, moron.."

A whisper, and the last thing he noticed was that the door flung open and Ever and Bixlow stormed in, alarmed by the sudden screaming of Laxus. Screaming what soon turned into crying. Useless attempts to calm the lightning mage down before a couple of more people dashed on while he was dragged away from the bed by Ever and Bixlow.

Everything just rushed past him. Dizzy. Blurred.

He was gone.

"Say something.."

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years.

Say something!

Should have stayed up


End file.
